One day

Chapter 13

I am Sen, one day I was beaten by my father.

I didn't expect this to happen, so far, even if I intentionally did something bad, they would tell me and not hit me. From destroying my mom's favorite dress when I was a child to stealing money from my dad, and almost dropping out of school, they still didn't hit me.

But today they beat me again.

It made me realize the seriousness of the matter… But I really don't understand, why aren't they angry at the destruction of belongings, but angry at the loss of the family album?

The album does have a lot of photos with memories of the three of us, but most of them are all photos of me, if lost they will only regret it, so they can't hit me. Even I found it unimportant, yet my mother almost went crazy over losing it.

When I got home two hours ago, everything was cleaned up by the police, they listed some damage, the rest was still intact and there was no sign of theft. My parents thanked them, sent them out, then took me inside to talk.

When I was about to tell them all, my mother opened the drawer of the desk, then rummaged through it as if she was looking for something.

My father asked, "What's wrong?"

My mother almost extreme fear, red eyes searching, trembling mouth said to my father: "It's gone, the album is gone."

My father also became anxious, starting to search with my mother. Seeing that they seemed to be overreacting, I said, "That album doesn't really matter, it's gone that no need to find it again."

But that statement made my father extremely angry, he took me to the yard and beat me with a whip, then made me stand still in the yard. My father went into the house, after a while came out with my mother, both of them questioned me about many things.

What they said I couldn't hear at all, I was so scared, I've never seen them so angry. So when I was so scared that I couldn't say a word, my mother lost her patience and gave me a slap, she tried to hit me again but was stopped by my father.

I could only stand still, trembling, listening to their footsteps entering the house. It's so strange today, it's all unfamiliar to me, it's like I've been lost in another world.

Due to the loss of sense of the surroundings, my brain automatically remembers the strange details that occurred today. 

First, James shouldn't have known I was running away from the thugs and he couldn't help me escape from them, because Sana never introduced him to me.

Second, James said that they got into trouble because of me, and he warned me to stay away from Sana if I don't want to harm her, so maybe Sana is in danger.

Third, my house being vandalized seems a lot like revenge but valuables were just vandalized and a useless album was taken away, so this could very well be a disguised burglary.

I am currently being punished by my parents, so my mind is completely covered with the reason why I am like this. The key here is the album, in which there must be some secret.

As for the other thugs, maybe they still don't know my house.

In recent years, my parents have been busy on business trips, the album has not been touched, it has been a long time since I haven't reviewed those photos. It's nothing out of the ordinary in my memory, it's all pictures of me having fun, every year there are pictures like that.

It's boring to watch, each picture is the same, I didn't know it was so important to my parents.

Towards the end of the night, my mother went out to the yard to call me to bed. It had only been a few hours and she looked very exhausted. Maybe I was wrong, I should apologize to them.

Just looking at the two people's disinterested looks, I can't say sorry, that's all, I'll say it tomorrow.

I covered my head with the blanket, started to cry, and gradually fell asleep. The next morning, it seemed that my parents had calmed down, they were no longer angry with me, just quietly doing their usual things.

Me too, I continued to go to school as usual.

A lot of people in class cared about me, but in my eyes, they were more like prying into my story, so I didn't say a word today. That's why they started talking about my personality, it's not really bad-mouthing, but it makes me uncomfortable.

"She's mute again."

“Haha, selective mute.”

"You're too arrogant to talk to us."

“…”

No one came forward to speak for me. That's right, in this case, each person saying less than one sentence is good for me.

Gradually they also got bored when I didn't react and started to ignore me. Teachers see such things, but of course, they just take it as normal, don't care at all.

Thinking about the upcoming important exam, I try to overcome all the immediate difficulties to absorb the knowledge in class. When I got home, in order not to think about it, I went back to study, partly also to avoid my parents.

It went on for a few days, by the time I found out I had communication problems it was already too late. My mother discovered my injuries and took me to the hospital, on the way she asked me a lot of things, but I could only say two words maximum.

Even when I met those thugs again at the hospital, I didn't know what to say. They were standing at the end of the corridor, quite a distance from me, but they only needed to turn one look to see me.

It's just that I'm so tired now, I don't really want to care about this anymore.

I sat quietly waiting for my mother to talk to the doctor, then heard their footsteps approaching me again. I really want to raise my head and scold them one more time, but I still can't, just moving a finger makes me so tired.

I thought they were coming to find me, but they passed me. Maybe I should feel lucky that I didn't get noticed.

So the person I beat is in that hospital room.

I remembered Sana's words, that even if he died, I wouldn't be responsible. At that time I thought she was joking, but now I believe it to be true because when he was dying in his hospital bed, no one finds to me.

In his hospital room, I could smell uncomfortable disinfectant, see the piles of machines and needles stuck into him, feel him looking at me fearfully.

It's strange, the one who should be scared should be me because I've harmed others this much.

When I got close to the edge of his bed, the screen showed his heart rate fluctuated very strongly, maybe he was too nervous. He must have wanted to say a lot of things, it's just that he was on oxygen so he couldn't say it, but if he didn't say it that I still could understand what he meant.

Suddenly a tear fell from my eye, I started to wipe it with my hand and ran outside to follow my mother's call.

“Where have you been wandering around? Hurry up and go to the doctor's office to check it out." My mother impatiently told me, then helped me fix my messy hair.

The doctor gave me the diagnosis sheet, I took it and immediately gave it to my mother. It seems to be quite serious, but I just know that I need to go to the hospital every day, I don't know how long it will last.

Whatever, I don't care about those things anymore, the only important thing right now is my studies.

I have to study harder.

At the end of the week, my parents brought home a little girl, saying she was my cousin. So this is the person they said they would stay with me for a few months.

Overall, she's quite good, a little shorter than me, but I'm still afraid she'll bother me. Then my mother said that I am younger than her because she is malnourished, so her body is so small, I should treat her well.

My mother seems to have said this before, I just don't remember when. I don't really care, as long as no one bothers me everything is fine.

Her name is Lilith Belin, the same last name as my mother and her granddaughter.

Lilith doesn't like to talk much, she always sits in one place and does her own thing, in this part she is just like me. The place she attended having a regular vacation, and yet she didn't have to do her homework, so now Lilith is extremely idle.

Every day I come home from school and go to my room to find her lying in my room reading a book. The first few days were fine, but gradually I started to feel uncomfortable. I don't know what she does while I'm at school, but most of the time I see her she's lying down reading a book.

I felt like I was completely focused on studying, and yet Lilith could still annoy me.

In the middle of the night I sat down to finish my homework for the day, and Lilith lay on my bed reading a book. The sound of her flipping books is not too loud, but once I rustle I am easily distracted, and I have the feeling of going crazy.

"You shut up, Lilith." When I asked Lilith to be quiet, I discovered that my voice was very small, it was possible that she would not hear what I said.

But Lilith really kept quiet, so I went back to doing my homework. I don't know how long it took for me to start falling asleep. When I looked at the clock I realized that it was two o'clock at night, I felt like I couldn't study anymore, so I decided to go to sleep.

I saw Lilith lying with her face in, she must have been asleep, but when I got under the blanket she spoke again, it is scaring me.

Lilith turned to look at me and said, “Since I've been here, you haven't said a word that makes me think you're dumb. What's the matter, are your words so precious that I don't deserve to hear them?"

She looks like she's trying to mock me, but I've heard these words a lot, and it doesn't hurt to hear a few more sentences. I turned my face away, starting to ignore her.